Leg iron article

ABSTRACT

A LEG IRON ARTICLE FOR USE BY A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER IN RESTRAINING A PRISONER. THIS LEG IRON ARTICLE CONSISTS OF A PAIR OF GENERALLY C-SHAPED CLIPS WHICH ARE SECURED AT ONE END TO A BAR AND WHICH ARE ADAPTED TO BE SNAPPED AROUND THE LEGS OF A PRISONER. A HANDLE IS HINGED TO THE REAR END OF THE BAR FOR CONTROLLING THE POSITION MOVEMENT OF THE CLIPS AND IT HAS A RING AT ITS UPPER END THROUGH WHICH NMAY BE PASSED A CONNECTING LINK OF A PAIR HANDCUFFS. A SECOND EMBODIMENT IS ALSO SHOWN WHICH MAY BE USED TO RESTRAIN TWO PRISONERS SIMULTANEOUSLY. THIS EMBODIMENT HAS A CENTRAL BAR HAVING A HANDLE AND LEG ENCIRCLING CLIPS ATTACHED TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE POINT OF ATTACHMENT OF THE FIRST CLIP TO THE CENTRAL BAR. THE LEGS OF THE FORST PRISONER ARE RETAINED BY THE CLIPS ON ONE SUDE OF THE CENTRAL BAR WHILE THOSE OF THE SECOND PRISONER ARE RETAINED BY THE CLIPS ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF THE BAR.

Nov. 23, 1971 s. F. MIKESIC LEG IRON ARTICLE Filed March 5, 1970 .m m S E mm W M mF E V E T S FIG.5

ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,621,681 LEG IRON ARTICLE Steve F. Mikesic, 1196 Herberich Ave., Akron, Ohio 44301 Filed Mar. 5, 1970, Ser. No. 16,760 Int. Cl. Eb 75/00 US. CI. 70-16 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A leg iron article for use by a law enforcement ofiicer in restraining a prisoner. The leg iron article consists of a pair of generally C-shaped clips which are secured at one end to a bar and which are adapted to be snapped around the legs of a prisoner. A handle is hinged to the rear end of the bar for controlling the position movement of the clips and it has a ring at its upper end through which may be passed a connecting link of a pair of handcuffs. A second embodiment is also shown which may be used to restrain two prisoners simultaneously. This embodiment has a central bar having a handle and leg encircling clips attached to opposite sides of the point of attachment of the first clip to the central bar. The legs of the first prisoner are retained by the clips on one side of the central bar while those of the second prisoner are retained by the clips on the opposite side of the bar.

This invention relates to a device for restraining prisoners and more particularly to a device which may be readily attached to the legs of a prisoner from behind the prisoner and be controlled from behind the person to prevent his running or attempting to escape.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of a device by which a police oflicer or other law-enforcement official may quickly and without danger to himself temporarily restrain a prisoner. In accordance with the principles of my invention this objective is accomplished by providing a device having a pair of bands, or spring clips which may be clipped to the prisoners legs to hold the legs close together, thus preventing the prisoner from running or kicking.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a device for restraining a prisoner which permits the law oflicer to have one hand free at substantially all times. The device of my invention accomplishes this objective as it is capable of being placed on the prisoner from behind and usually with the use of only a single hand it enables the ofiicer to subdue even the most violent prisoner with a single hand.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rela tively inexpensive, sturdy device for immobilizing a person readily from the rear of the person.

The above and other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent upon consideration of the following specification and the accompanying drawing wherein there is shown a preferred embodiment of the invention.

(In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the restraining device of my invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the device of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a prisoner showing one method of using the device of my invention;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of a prisoner showing the use of my device in conjunction with handcuffs; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a second embodiment of my invention.

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The restraining device of my invention consists essentially of a bar, or frame 10 to which are secured end portions of a pair of leg-encircling rearwardly open clips 12 and 14 and an elongated handle 16.

Each of the leg-encircling clips 12, 14 consists of a strip of spring steel, plastic or other suitable material bent or formed into a generally C-shaped configuration and securely attached to the bar 10 by rivets 18 or other suitable means. The free end portions of the clips 12, 14 are curved as indicated at 20 to provide smooth ends so that the clips do not cut or tear the prisoners trousers when being installed, while being adapted to be pulled into engagement with a persons ankles from the rear of the person.

The handle 16 is preferably made of metal for sufficient strength. It is attached to the bar 10 by a hinge, designated generally by the reference numeral 22 and illustrated in detail in FIG. 3. The hinge 22 has a pin 24 connecting the end of the bar 10 to the end of the handle 16. It will be noted that the half portion 26 of the end of the handle 16 below the centerline of the pin 24 is square and abuts against the lower portion 28 of the end of the bar 10, when the handle 16 is in a horizontal position, to prevent the handle 16 from dropping below the plane of the bar 10 and the clips 12 and 14. A flange or buttress 30 is provided on the upper surface of the handle 16 adjacent the pin 24 and this buttress 30 abutts the upper surface of the bar 10 to prevent the handle from being moved through more than a arc upwardly from the plane of the bar 10 and clips 12 and 14. The outer end of the handle 16 is shown as provided with a ring 32.

Referring now to FIG. 4, the method of using the device of my invention as described above will now be explained. To install the restraining device on a prisoner, the law-enforcement ofiicial turns the device so that the clips 12 and 14 are in a vertical plane and, while the device is in this position, inserts the device between the prisoners legs from the rear and with the handle 16 towards the rear. The device is now turned so that the clips 12 and 14 lie in a horizontal plane immediately in front of the prisoners legs. Pulling sharply or smoothly backwardly on the handle 16 causes the clips 12 and 14 to flex outwardly, snapping around the prisoners legs. It will be noted that the distance between the ends 20 of the clips 12 and 14 and the adjacent sides of the bar 10 is sufficiently great that the clips 12 and 14 will spread apart as they are pulled rearwardly against the prisoners legs. The prisoners legs are now held closely together, thus hobbling him. The officer, by holding the upper end of the handle 16, can now effectively restrain the prisoner. Should the prisoner attempt to flee or become violent, the officer can quickly restrain him by jerking or pulling on the handle 16 causing the prisoner to stumble or fall.

FIG. 5 illustrates the use of the device of my invention in conjunction with a pair of handcuffs to further restrain a prisoner. The device is attached in the manner described above and the prisoners hands are then handcuffed together behind his back. The handcuffs 34 are joined to one another by a short chain 36 which is passed through the ring 32 of suitable size to have the handcuffs passed therethrough on the upper end of the handle 16. With this arrangement, the prisoner is securely restrained as any attempt to move either his arms or legs more than a very limited amount is highly uncomfortable.

I also provide a second embodiment of my invention which may be used by a law enforcement ofiicer to restrain two prisoners simultaneously. This embodiment, illustrated in FIG. 6, consists of a central bar 38 having a handle 40 connected thereto by hinge 42. Clips 44 and 46 similar to clips 12 and 14 of the previously described embodiment are secured to opposite sides of the bar 38 by rivets 48. Directly opposite the point of attachment of the clips 44 and 46 to the bar 38 there are individually attached second bars 50, 52 and additional clips 54 and 56, respectively. These additional clips and bars are secured by rivets '58. In this embodiment, the clips 54 and 44 are usually first snapped around the legs of a first prisoner, the bar 50 serving as a spacer to properly position the clips. Likewise, the clips 46 and 56 are next snapped around the legs of the second prisoner with the bar 52 serving as a spacer. The two prisoners are now efl'ectively restrained as neither one can move his own legs more than a small amount and as the prisoners are prohibited from moving individually.

It should now be apparent that I have provided a leg iron article which fulfills the objective initially' set out above. Since the device described herein holds the prisoners legs close together it prohibits him from running or kicking. The law officer can effectively restrain the prisoner even if he should attempt to become violent by merely pulling or jerking on the handle, thus throwing the prisoner off balance. Since the device is designed to be installed from the rear, the law officer remains behind the prisoner and thus has an advantage over him. Also, the device may usually be installed with only the use of one hand, thus leaving the otficers other hand free to hold a revolver or to search the prisoner, for example, for concealed weapons.

It should be understood while two embodiments of my invention have been described further modifications or additions may be made to the invention without departing from the spirit thereof. Reference should therefore be had to the appended claims in determining the true scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A leg iron article for use by a person in restraining a prisoner, comprising:

abar;

a pair of clips, each of the clips being of C-shaped configuration, the clips being secured at one of their 4 ends at opposite sides of the bar and adapted to encircle the ankles of the prisoner; and

a handle attached by a hinge to one end of the bar.

2. The article according to claim 1 wherein the hinge limits the movement of the handle to an are extending 90 from the plane of the bar.

3. The article according to claim 1 wherein the clips are open in a rearward direction and the article can be engaged on the prisoners ankles from behind the prisoner.

4. The article according to claim 1 wherein each of the clips is resilient, permitting the clips to be snapped onto the prisoners ankles.

5. The article according to claim 1 wherein said bar is provided with a ring at its upper end and is of sufficient length to extend from the point of encirclement of said clips to the priso ne rs legs to a point on the prisoners back at which the prisoners hands may be joined by handcuffs, the arrangement permitting the connecting links of the handcuffs to be passed through the ring of said handle.

6. The article according to claim 1 further including spacer bars secured to each of said clips at points opposite from the points of attachment of said clips to said first bar; and additional clips secured to said spacer bars whereby a pair of prisoners legs can be engaged.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 365,614 6/ 1887 Lightbown --17 738,983 9/1903 Burdick 7016 826,775 7/ 1906 Farnsworth 24230.5 858,633 7/1907 Smith l19-128 3,426,559 2/1969 Schubach 70-16 3,432,429 3/ 1969 Santucci 24869 GEORGE F. MAUTZ, Primary Examiner E. I. MCCARTHY, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 24230.5 AD 

